New as a member, but not as a fan. [Possible spolier if not caught up to the War Arc]

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New as a member, but not as a fan. [Possible spolier if not caught up to the War Arc]

Hi everyone,

My introduction to the Naruto world began back in 2004-2005 in Pittsburgh, PA (USA) where an openly gay, anime-loving, buddy demonstrated a sleuths his of anime cds, including Naruto, to me and a handful of my buddies. My buddies and I already liked anime, but we all specially loved Naruto show, to the point that we all made it a daily escapade to our non flamboyant buddy's place to watch, then excitedly discuss, the episodes of his limited collection (still large by any means though). Starting from the first episode to the epic Naruto and Susake fight at the Valley of Heroes(?), we all laughed, got teary eyed--maybe even cried a little, raged, and cheered, at the major plots and characters in the show. In short, we were all emotionally invested in it.

Then I joined the US Army; it took a short hiatus.

Believe it or not but there are people in the Army who really do like anime; the US Army is so big and diverse that it would be surprising that it didn't. Anyways, while reflecting on interests in our down time at the barracks, post boot camp, anime naturally came as a topic point (along with women, Army job complaints, sports, music, computers, games, xbox360/ps3 etc, etc). I shared how I was introduced to an awesome anime (Naruto) and told its main plot with swagger-like efficiency...only to be totally outdone by a soldier who claimed that my anime source is already outdated, and that something called "Naruto manga" was way ahead of its animation. Jolted by this realization I made a mental note to keep up pace with this "manga," and continued our air venting episodes for days to come. But then...

Again, another intermittent hiatus: Irag and Afghanistan happen.

After Afghanistan I decided to not reenlist, for college purposes (that epic Post 9/11 GI Bill), and return home a more patriotic, humbled, mature, civic-minded, lightly wiser, better shaped self....with a sometimes sick twisted sense of humor. But I digress, anime was back in my daily routine. So after a Googled search or two I found this website. And after a couple of months in catching up not only in Naruto but it's Shippuuden sequel, I started reading this site's forums, starting with the prediction sections.

Months later, the weekly routine is: read the manga, followed by the 'prediction' section, and see if my own theories hold water not only to the called predictions, but also to the manga itself. Needless to say, I was one of those in denial of Obito being Tobi. Prediction guru, I'm not. Yet, I've grown a fascination to some of the post and comments by some of its fans on this site. It is what eventually pushed my decision from being a passive roles (just coming to watch/read of its site), to a more participant role (becoming a member and posting comments etc).

Thus, here I am.

Thank you all for taking the time to read. Feel free to post your replies, if any.

PS--Admittedly, I've already posted some few replies. That's due to the fact that I JUST went through most of my emails on half of my mail accounts, and didn't realize about introducing myself to the forum 1st and stuff. *sighs* 216 non-spam emails more to go. Yay, -.- ...